Apple plans to introduce HDMI connectivity on some of its personal computers this year, embracing an emerging trend that has seen the high-definition audio/video interface crop up on an increasing number of systems from rival PC manufacturers, AppleInsider has learned.

HDMI spotted on Mac mini

More specifically, prototypes of a new Mac mini — Apple's smallest and most affordable system, commonly employed by tech savvy Mac users as an ad-hoc living room media server, has been making the rounds with an HDMI port in place of its legacy DVI connector, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The port sits besides mini DisplayPort connector and marks the first instance of full-featured*HDMI connectivity on a Mac. It also represents only the second Apple product to feature the port outside of the company's fledgeling Apple TV streaming media device. Cosmetically, the Mac mini is otherwise said to look identical to existing models, with no other visible changes to its enclosure.

A bit about HDMI and Macs

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a cabling standard intended for home theater uses, built on top of the computer-oriented DVI (Digital Video Interface) specification. It uses a compact flat connector instead of the relatively large one used for DVI. Because it's backwardly compatible with DVI on an electronic signaling level, computers with DVI output can drive an HDMI display such as an HDTV using only a physical adapter dongle.

Apple's recent Macs all supply either a standard DVI port or a Mini DisplayPort connector that is also designed to provide DVI signals in addition to DisplayPort, a newer, incompatible video signaling protocol. This makes it simple to connect either port to an HDMI display for video output using a simple converter dongle.

However, the HDMI specification also provides support for audio, something DVI does not. Since there are no audio signals presented on Mac (or PC) DVI (or, apparently, existing*Mac Mini DisplayPort) connectors, there's currently no way to deliver both audio and video from a Mac to an HDMI TV over a simple, single cable.

Only Apple TV provides an HDMI connector capable of delivering both audio and video signals to an HDMI display. Including HDMI video connectors on new Mac models would enable users to connect their computer to an HDTV via one cable, rather than needing a separate audio connection or complex cable.

An unannounced version of the Mac mini has been spotted with an HDMI connector instead of a DVI.

Mac mini prototype with Nvidia's MCP89

At least one of the Mac mini prototypes described by those privy to the hardware is said to include Nvidia's MCP89 chipset, which is the successor to the existing MCP79 (or GeForce 9400M) *chipset found alongside Intel's Core 2 Duo processors across the majority of Apple's existing Mac product line.

However, Intel's ongoing licensing dispute with Nvidia will prevent Apple (and other PC makers) from using the MCP89 supporting chipset alongside its latest generation of Nehalem-based Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. Therefore, this suggests that Apple may continue to rely on existing Core 2 Duo (pre-Nehalem) processors as part of its upcoming Mac mini revision.

Alternatively, the Mac mini prototype in question could have been in development before Intel's disagreement with Nvidia came to a head, meaning successive prototype revisions that forgo the new Nvidia chipset in favor of Intel's may have since emerged, though there's no evidence thus far to support that theory.

HDMI for other Macs

While adding an HDMI port to the Mac mini is fairly trivial with few tradeoffs, the same can't necessarily be said in regards to Apple's notebook lines, which sport a much smaller footprint and limited real estate for additions to its I/O port makeup.

However, another product floating around Apple's labs is a proprietary mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter that the Mac maker had originally developed and intended to ship alongside its most recent iMac revision, according to people with knowledge of the situation. It's said to include technology that would allows Macs shipping with an updated mini DisplayPort spec to channel both video and audio through the mini Display port to the HDMI adapter, rather than just video.

One of the various mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapters on the market that doesn't carry audio signals.

Ideally, the adapter was to accompany Apple's move to include Blu-ray drives in the high-end iMac (and offer them as build-to-order options on the rest of the line), allowing the all-in-one desktops to connect to big-screen HDTVs that would leverage their Blu-ray drives and high-def iTunes video content. But a near last-minute decision by Apple to scrap Blu-ray from the iMac line this past fall kept the adapter under wraps. It's therefore possible that it could still emerge as a solution that could accompany a future update to the company's notebook lines.

Blu-ray blues

Apple's move to ax Blu-ray from the iMac line (and several other Macs that were undergoing Q&A testing) was reportedly due to a number of factors. One issue, according to people familiar with the matter, was that Apple management -- including Jobs -- felt Blu-ray licensing fees were too steep for the length of time they believed the technology would remain relevant in the market place. There were also reportedly both software and hardware related issues that would have demanded too much engineer effort to overcome.

If you missed it

In related news, AppleInsider reported earlier this month on Apple's efforts to usher advanced automatic graphics switching into its professional MacBook Pro line sometime this year.

Tried the other day to connect my MBP to a receiver thru a DVI-to-HDMI-cable. Works, but at least my ONKYO receiver and SHARP LCD-TV gave a couple of unwanted results. The Mac does a great discovery and notes that theres is a TV behind the cable. However, when trying to fit the picture to the screen it offers only two things:

• a smaller but sharp picture including the whole desktop but a large black area around it
• a picture filling the TV-screen which actually is to large leaving the outer limits of the desktop outside viewable area.

Can of course be something else, but just a DVI-to-HDMI adapter needs more than just pins.

I love this! Either they upgrade AppleTV with some more juice or the skip it and do something creative based on MacMini with HDMI output!!!

Apple management -- including Jobs -- felt Blu-ray licensing fees were too steep for the length of time they believed the technology would remain relevant in the market place. There were also reportedly both software and hardware related issues that would have demanded too much engineer effort to overcome.

What? More so then flickering, yellow 27" iMac screens?

Ten years ago, we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Today we have no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash.

Wow. I totally don't care. Thanks for saving one adapter and instituting another. How would this be an improvement? I don't need to send audio to my cinema display and I would never use built-in speakers if they had them (personally). It's not like they could get rid of the other audio ports if they did this either. Sounds suspicious, except maybe for the mac mini. I guess there are more and more computer displays with HDMI, but usually as an optional port and not a primary. Whatever, so long as optical/ analog ports remain, who cares?

turtles all the way up and turtles all the way down... infinite context means infinite possibility

Okay, maybe on the Mac mini, but I'd rather see two mini-DisplayPort connectors (w/audio) and an included mDP -> HDMI adapter on all their machines. Choose a standard (DisplayPort), stick with it, and provide adapters for everything else (HDMI, DVI, VGA, component, composite).

Hmmm. I wonder if this means Blu-ray drives are a comin'. A home theater computer should contain everything the home theater needs, after all.

You need to look at what's going on around you, right in front of your face. Blockbuster is circling the drain. Hollywood Video has already assumed room temperature. Netflix is in the process of moving to online content delivery. iTunes is already there.

How much evidence does it take to get the picture? Physical media is on the way out and the trend is accelerating. Blu-ray is completely useless as a data storage or backup media when blank discs are expensive and one can buy a 1TB hard drive for under a hundred bucks. Online content delivery is "good enough" and getting better. The Blu-ray titles are twice as expensive as standard DVD. Walk into any video rental store, or Walmart and take a look at the Blu-ray section squirreled away n the corner. Blu-ray is a technology whose time has already come and gone. It's legacy will be as a transitional technology. Why people can't see that is a mystery to me.

So why should Apple waste its time and expense on a technology that is on the way out, just like the floppy disk drive was when the iMac was introduced?

I hope this means HDMI in for the iMacs - I'd love to be able to plug my PS3 into a new iMac and was terribly disappointed to discover that that wasn't possible with the recent models.

Interesting...

I had assumed from the article that only hdmi out was being discussed. I didn't think the iMac was a great form factor for hdmi out since it would look rather odd having an iMac next to your wide screen tv. It makes much more sense for the mini.

But being able to hook up a game console or blue ray player to the iMac screen via hdmi in is much more compelling. I had never really thought about that.

Tried the other day to connect my MBP to a receiver thru a DVI-to-HDMI-cable. Works, but at least my ONKYO receiver and SHARP LCD-TV gave a couple of unwanted results. The Mac does a great discovery and notes that theres is a TV behind the cable. However, when trying to fit the picture to the screen it offers only two things:

a smaller but sharp picture including the whole desktop but a large black area around it
a picture filling the TV-screen which actually is to large leaving the outer limits of the desktop outside viewable area.

I had this exact problem. If you scroll to the top of the list of resolutions in Display preferences (with your TV plugged in), you'll see the proper HDTV resolutions, 720i, 1080i, 1080p, etc. They even have a little TV icon next to them, shame they're hidden. Make sure your TV doesn't have some kind of screen zooming on too.

Like many have already stated, there is really no need for HDMI ports on iMac for instance.
If they would just enable audio on the mDP that would be fine. They could sell an adapter for it
or let 3rd party handle that.

The adapters nowadays for mDP WITH audio are around 100 bucks. A bit expensive in my book.

just hope they can find a solution that works with existing miniDPs and not just a new hardware for new computers. if the existing minidp port doesnt support audio and it cant be addressed through software then maybe apple should make a dongle or cable that attaches to both the miniDP and the audio out and fuses into one, like the dongle that exists for the apple display for notebooks that fused power, video, etc into one cable instead of three

Like many have already stated, there is really no need for HDMI ports on iMac for instance.
If they would just enable audio on the mDP that would be fine. They could sell an adapter for it
or let 3rd party handle that.

The adapters nowadays for mDP WITH audio are around 100 bucks. A bit expensive in my book.

Since the audio would just come from the unused pins the adapters already being made will work just fine.

The cost for the mDP-to-HDMI w/audio isn't that expensive. I bought the one with audio over USB for $35 but now they have one with Toslink audio for $50. I think the USB one only allows for two-channel audio from the convertor, but I'd assume the toslink version would do multi-channel, otherwise what's the point?

Tried the other day to connect my MBP to a receiver thru a DVI-to-HDMI-cable. Works, but at least my ONKYO receiver and SHARP LCD-TV gave a couple of unwanted results. The Mac does a great discovery and notes that theres is a TV behind the cable. However, when trying to fit the picture to the screen it offers only two things:

a smaller but sharp picture including the whole desktop but a large black area around it
a picture filling the TV-screen which actually is to large leaving the outer limits of the desktop outside viewable area.

Can of course be something else, but just a DVI-to-HDMI adapter needs more than just pins.

I love this! Either they upgrade AppleTV with some more juice or the skip it and do something creative based on MacMini with HDMI output!!!

I currently connects my 2009 Mini to my 26" LG LCD TV via a DVI ->HDMI converter cable, the picture is perfect on full screen. I did have your problems but there's an option on the TV menu where it will adjust the picture to fit full screen.

So I would say play around with the settings on both the computer and the TV and Im sure you will get a perfect picture soon.

I'm pretty sure they know it is a fake image since they shopped it themselves. They didn't say they had images of the new mini, they just included that image to help us visualize how the port layout should look.

- your mac use the correct resolution (1080p or 720p )
- your tv is configured to give full-pixel (the whole thing the computer is giving, no treatment, no weird video transformation or whatever)

you will obtain great picture.

--

about hdmi, ps3, imac and so on :

_NO_

you cannot connect a ps3 to the imac because the INTERNAL ELECTRONICS of the imac DISPLAY IS _NOT_ an DVI/HDMI display. is NOT

the ps3 need an HDMI/DVI display. the imac 27 is NOT an internal hdmi/dvi display.

the imac can OUTPUT hdmi/dvi/displayport signal to an EXTERNAL display, but the INTERNAL DISPLAY is only PURE displayport.

it is the goal :at term, the industry will use only one format to manage computer screens, both internal and external : displayport. Before displayport it was a mix of dvi and weird proprietary internal stuff : two electronics.

repeat after me : the ps3 needs a hdmi/dvi display, the imac 27 is NOT a hdmi/dvi display

-

HDMI on a mac mini will bring ONE thing : HDCP video support for your tv , the ability to play hdcp crypted content on your tv (itunes store has some hdcp content)

You need to look at what's going on around you, right in front of your face. Blockbuster is circling the drain. Hollywood Video has already assumed room temperature. Netflix is in the process of moving to online content delivery. iTunes is already there.

How much evidence does it take to get the picture? Physical media is on the way out and the trend is accelerating. Blu-ray is completely useless as a data storage or backup media when blank discs are expensive and one can buy a 1TB hard drive for under a hundred bucks. Online content delivery is "good enough" and getting better. The Blu-ray titles are twice as expensive as standard DVD. Walk into any video rental store, or Walmart and take a look at the Blu-ray section squirreled away n the corner. Blu-ray is a technology whose time has already come and gone. It's legacy will be as a transitional technology. Why people can't see that is a mystery to me.

So why should Apple waste its time and expense on a technology that is on the way out, just like the floppy disk drive was when the iMac was introduced?

Um, I'm going to go ahead and say:
1) declining physical media doesn't mean it's dead (PCs and Macs still play music CDs, don't they?); BD will likely never be as big as DVD was, but that doesn't mean it won't be the majority share of media
2) because all of your competitors offer the technology and not having said technology on your machines makes you look . . . decidedly "stick in the mud" from a competitive POV
3) because most educated people who follow this space understand that it has absolutely nothing to do with BD being un-attractive (that hasn't stopped virtually every other computer maker from incorporating the tech), and EVERYTHING to do with Apple pushing its own agenda and business model

As a household with an iMac, a MacBook several iPods and contemplating a MacBook Pro purchase, I can tell you that I won't buy another Apple computer until I can play my BD movies on them. This is a deal-killer for me, and I suspect anyone else with a decent sized BD media collection

HDMI on a mac mini will bring ONE thing : HDCP video support for your tv , the ability to play hdcp crypted content on your tv (itunes store has some hdcp content)

I believe all Macs with mDP ports can output HDMI w/HDCP so only audio would be brought to the table but as mentioned earlier that is best down through adding audio support to mDP across the board, not adding another port for HDMI.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"